Eco-Efficiency: Making Money without Damaging the Earth
In the beginning, when Henry Kravis and his business partner George Roberts set up Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) in 1976 with assistance from the First Chicago Corporation, the firm’s focus was in highly leveraged transactions. However, they have set up a novel green enterprise that concentrates not alone on optimized ROI, but also on the environmental impact of the companies they acquire.
KKR’s Henry Kravis and the non-profit environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) joined forces a year ago, intending to make environmentally aware business practice a widely accepted principle. They intends to help resolve all important environmental issues, for example resource depletion, hazardous emissions, exorbitant water consumption, and toxic waste.
In order to attain this, they apply a method called eco-efficiency; this uses techniques such as optimizing data centers for efficiency, recycling programs, and maximum use of renewable resources. Simple and effective, yet the management did not understand the full program’s benefits until Ken Mehlman, the head of the Green Portfolio Project and global public affairs, assessed the project after a year in operation.
Eclipsing all expectations, Ken learned that this program not only helped in proctecting the environment, but also increased the the profit from all their business organizations too. Nearly all of the companies affiliated to KKR and Ken Mehlman now are actively taking part in the program. And, with a current business portfolio estimated at $86 billion, you may be sure this was not a simple achievement. The original Green Portfolio project now encompasses new ventures. To illustrate, KKR got together with the EDF’s Climate Corps Program which instructs interns studying for a Master’s in Business Administration how to formulate and introduce cost effective, ecologically friendly practices. KKR and Ken Mehlman have made the effort to develop products which quantify and manipulate resources. With this information available, any business may without much effort assess their day to day procedures and find out exactly how any problems may be solved while simultaneously tracking their progress.
Henry Kravis, the KKR, and the Environmental Defense Fund are genuine innovators in the world of green business. These innovations have simplified the procedure for firms in any industry and proved that running a profitable business need not entail the hefty price of negatively impacting our planet.
